Horsing Around
by Brynaea
Summary: FINAL CHAPTER! it's done! Finally! The last chapter is more of an epilogue, but enjoy!
1. Race Day

Horsing Around By: Emy  
  
Prologue: Race Day  
  
The air was filled with anticipation, tense and heavy. 11 horses filled the starting gates at Los Vegas Race Track; in gate 4 was the favorite, Hawk Dance, owned by Race the Wind Stables, and in gate 9 the long shot, Freedom for All, owned by Freedom Flies Stables. Suddenly the gates fly open and the long awaited start has come. The horses plunge out only the sandy track with a passion known only to a man fleeing for his life. Early in the race Hawk Dance pulls a good lead followed by Running Devil and Sweet Pea. Behind them keeping a good pace is Freedom for All, on the inside. They speed on jockeys thrashing the sides of their horses. All except one, the rider on Freedom for All, who is slowly gaining on the leader. With only a ½ furlong left, Freedom for All pulls ahead of Hawk Dance and continues to pull ahead until the finish line to win the race by 8 lengths. In the winners circle the heaving horse is awarded a wreath of roses and the jockey, who remains on her back is handed the cup. The groom leads them both off to the stables.  
  
"Good race there Tala" He says.  
  
"Thanks John, I knew she could do it though, she has a good heart" Tala Cale, the horse's jockey replied. She gently patted her horse's sweat streaked neck.  
  
When they arrived at the barn, Tala, began to un-strap herself from the saddle, see the only thing about 17 year old Tala Cale that is out of the ordinary for a jockey, is she can't walk. At age 10 a riding accident left her paralyzed from the waist down, but even that wasn't enough to keep her from riding. She carefully slipped down off her horse and into her chair when a surly, beefy looking man strode into the barn.  
  
"I don't know what you did out there, you stupid cripple, but I know that I'll get you for it, you keep making me and my stables look like fools, and you won't get away with it!" He yelled at Tala.  
  
"I didn't do anything except ride my horse Matt, and you know it, just because you beat your horses to death is no reason to come complaining to me" She rebuked  
  
" You better watch yourself Tala Cale or maybe you won't be riding anymore." He threatened.  
  
"Matt, you're angry about loosing the race, go cool off and we'll talk later ok?" Tala tried to soothe the livid man  
  
Matt Shadore the owner of Race the Wind Stables stalked off in the direction from which he had come.  
  
"Boy he was mad" John remarked  
  
"He probably lost a lot of money on that colt of his, that's why I don't bet on my own horses" Tala replied, and then wheeled herself off to the locker rooms to change out of her silks.  
  
When she returned her mother and father were there to greet her.  
  
"Nice race today hun," Her dad said with a smile, but underneath his cheery looks, there was worry and concern, but for what?  
  
"Yeah well Free ran like a dream, just like her dad," Tala replied, with some confusion.  
  
"Tala, I'm afraid I have some bad news" her mother said with a grim look on her face "Jeff Robertson is dead, he lost a stirrup in the race after yours, and got trampled by the horses, I'm sorry honey, I know he was your friend."  
  
"What?! You mean that he just "lost his stirrup" he's been riding for 8 years, you don't just "lose a stirrup" when you're a pro like him! There must have beensomething wrong with his tack, or his horse! Didn't they check?" Tala's anger and grief poured out in angry and loud words. Although Jeff wasn't the first rider that Tala knew that had died because of an accident on the track, he was one of her closet friends, and she knew that he would never let himself be hurt in a race.  
  
"The have brought in some people who are experts in solving crimes and mysteries and what not, but they want to talk to you, and I thought that we should tell you and not some stranger you don't even know, I really sorry Tala," her mother replied trying to calm her grief stricken daughter.  
  
"OK fine as long as they see that it's not some "freak accident" Jeff was one of the best riders in the game," Tala said, finally calming down.  
  
Tala and her family came out of the barn to talk with the so-called experts about Jeff, and was met by an older man with curlyish gray hair. If he was surprised to see Tala he didn't show it. 'got to give him some credit for that' she thought. He extended his hand to Tala.  
  
"Hello, I'm Gil Grissom, we have a few questions we'd like to ask you, uh"  
  
"Tala, please call me Tala, I hate formalities Mr. Grissom" Tala replied.  
  
"Well then let's skip them and get right to it." He said 


	2. The History of my Universe

A/N: OK I am going to include the plot line brought to us in the season 2 finale, Grissom's impending deafness, just to let you all know!  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 1: The History of My Universe  
  
"So Tala, how long have you known Mr. Robertson?" Grissom asked.  
  
"Well Jeff was one of the first jockeys that actually backed me when I started riding, I guess that was about 2 years ago." Tala replied.  
  
Both members of the conversation were studying each other. To Grissom Tala was a paradox; here she was with a severe disability, yet she was a warm and friendly person, not sullen or unhappy. She seemed to not even notice that she was at a disadvantage to the other riders on the track, but made the best of what she had, and this came as a whole new idea for Grissom, who was contending with the realization of his own disability. Her attitude was one of strength and perseverance, and of someone not to be messed with. While Grissom was making his observations, Tala was making a few of her own. As she looked at the man in front of her, she noticed the way that he held himself, to her he seemed like a man that was put in charge for a reason, his body posture told her that he was confidant with himself, and his abilities, yet there was an underlying fear, that she couldn't quite understand. He was older maybe in his mid to late 40's, but had a younger spirit.  
  
"So did he have any enemies? On the track or off?" Grissom asked breaking Tala out of her reverie.  
  
"Jeff was well liked my anyone who met him. There were rival jockeys who got mad when they lost a race or owners that lost money on a colt or filly, but no serious enemies, at least that I know of." Tala replied.  
  
"And who were the rival stables?" He asked.  
  
"Depended on the race, Jeff was a rider for hire, he didn't work for a stable." She said.  
  
"So how well did he ride, is it possible that today was just an accident?" Grissom queried.  
  
"Jeff was one of the best riders out there, he had a real way with horses, even though he used a whip, I had great respect for his abilities, and would have been proud to lose to him. Today was no accident, he has been riding for about 8 years, which is longer then any other rider out there." She said  
  
" Alright thank you for your time Tala, we may come talk to you again" Grissom said.  
  
"Sure, but I'm heading home now, so you'll have to come find me there." She replied. "I live at Freedom Flies Ranch, it's about a 25 minute drive from here, hard to miss, it's about 200 acres, and the house is a white farm house"  
  
"We'll be sure to come there if we need any more information" He replied.  
  
Tala then wheeled herself off to the parking lot where she got in her specially equipped truck, and drove off.  
  
Gil Grissom and his team went to go process the crime scene. Out on the track the remains of Jeff Robertson were not a pretty sight. 12 horses at full gallop running over a body will do that though. 'This isn't going to be an easy case' Grissom thought.  
  
"Ok, Sara, you take the body with Nick, Catherine, you go check on the tack and horse see if you can find anything there. Warrick you're with me, we're going to look for some eye witnesses, and try to find out exactly what happened out here today." With that said Grissom started to walk off with Warrick in tow.  
  
Sara and Nick headed over to the body. Looking over the remains, they could see that the most probable cause of death was a skull fracture that left Jeff's cerebrum split from his forehead all the way back, and his brain exposed to the cool afternoon breeze.  
  
"Nick, come check this out," Sara said breaking the silence, which had encompassed them until that moment. Nick walked over to where Sara was standing at Jeff's right leg. "See that film of dust that's on the bottom of the boot, look at the left boot, there isn't any." She told him. At a closer observation, Nock also saw the difference.  
  
"Get a swab of the bottom of that boot, then let's go find Grissom" Nick said.  
  
Meanwhile Catherine was in the barn looking at Devil's Play the horse that Jeff had been riding. She had examined the tack, and found it had already been cleaned, and so all evidence was destroyed. 'Well everybody's really thorough here or has something to hide' she thought. As she looked at the massive beast in front of her she decided that any evidence would also have been washed away, judging from the glossy sheen that radiated off the huge black horse. 'Oh well better go find Grissom' was her thought as she exited the large barn.  
  
Grissom and Warrick were having little luck; no one had seen exactly what had happened before the accident, only the repercussions of it. Because Jeff was not riding the lead horse, the crowd's attention was not on him before hand. Just then Sara and Nick came walking over.  
  
"You get anything off the body?" Grissom asked.  
  
"Well we might have something, there was a residue on the bottom of his boot, but that may just be coincidence, where's Catherine?" Sara said.  
  
Just as she asked Catherine strode up. "I'm right here, nothing on the tack or the horse, they were both cleaned before we got here." She told the group.  
  
"Well looks like this case isn't gonna be just horse play" Grissom remarked. 


	3. Thoughts and the Radio

A/N: I found this and I LOVED it so I'm going to share with you all.  
  
The Horse  
  
by John Anthony Davies   
  
I saw a child who could not walk,  
  
sit on a horse, laugh and talk.  
  
Then ride it through a field of daisies  
  
And yet he could not walk unaided.  
  
I I saw a child, no legs below,  
  
sit on a horse and make it go  
  
through woods of green and places he had never been  
  
to sit and stare, except for a chair.  
  
  
  
I saw a child who could only crawl,  
  
mount a horse and sit up tall;  
  
then put it through a degree of paces  
  
and laugh at the wonder in our faces.  
  
  
  
I saw a child born into strife,  
  
take up and hold the reins of life.  
  
And that same child, was heard to say,  
  
thank God for showing me the way.....  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 2: Thoughts and the Radio  
  
On the ride home Tala was deep in thought. It just seemed like it was all a dream, there was no way that Jeff could be dead. He was one of her few real friends. Because of her disability she scared off a lot of kids her own age. She had found that the people who really were friends were the other jockeys at the track as well as her horses.  
  
Ever since she was little Tala had a deep connection with horses. Until her accident she had never been hurt on a horse, and seemed to know what they wanted, not like shoe could talk to them, but she knew when they were happy or sad or hurt. She had been riding since the time she was 5. After her accident she wanted to ride again, but her parents didn't want her to. After a lot of coaxing though she proved all the good that riding could do, she had done extensive research, and when she first got back on a horse she found that horses were one thing that didn't change when you couldn't walk. You could still do all the things you did before, and it was one of the few freeing moments for her. When Freedom's Song came to the rehabilitation stable where she rode, she fell in love with the majestic animal almost immediately. He was an off the track race horse who had broken his left foreleg, and was going to be put down. The owner of the ranch Sam Carter, had rescued him, and brought him to the farm. There Tala decided that she wanted to take care of him. She remembered the first day that she saw him. He was trembling in his stall, with a huge cast on his leg, he tried to walk around, but he stumbled and almost fell. When she tried to pet him, he tried to bite her. For 2 weeks he wouldn't let anyone near him. Then one day, 2 days after his cast came off; he let Tala touch his sleek black coat. After that small breakthrough friendship came quickly, and soon Tala could easily lead Free, as she now called him, around. After a month she was able to ride him, but Sam was planning on selling Free, so she convinced her parents to buy him.  
  
When the received Free's racing papers, they found out that he was an extremely well bred horse, and decided to fulfill the dream of owning a horse ranch. Tala then decided to be a jockey, and her parents supported that decision, but the other people involved weren't as pleased. She had to prove herself over and over again, but was finally accepted as one of the best jockeys in Nevada. Jeff was the first person who believed in her, and after a few races they became friends. 'Now he's dead' she though 'and I'll never see him again'. She turned in the driveway to her house, and noticed the song on the radio it was Tears in Heaven. "Well that's certainly a fitting song," she said to no one in particular. The song ended and she shut off the engine. As she slipped out of the truck and into her chair, her dad came walking up.  
  
"Hey Tala, we just got a new rider, name's Mark Doble, want to take him out for a spin on Wind Chaser? See what he can do?" He asked.  
  
"Sure thing, I'll get right to it, oh who should I ride?" She replied.  
  
"Give him a challenge ride Mist, besides don't you ride him this weekend?" He answered.  
  
"Yeah I have 2 races with him on Saturday, and 1 on Sunday, he'll love to stretch his legs anyways." She said as she wheeled off to the 100-horse barn that housed 86 horses at the moment, including Free and 29 of his sons and daughters.  
  
She tacked up Mist, and led the horse out to the track that was directly behind the barn. Mist followed with no trouble, considering that he had no lead rope on and was not restrained in any way. Because Tala needed the use of both hands, she had taught the horses that she worked with most to follow her wherever she went. When they arrived at the track, she saw Mark already warming up Wind Chaser. She watched the dark haired boy take the horse through a series of slow collected canters gradually accelerating to a light gallop, along the backstretch. She went over to the mounting block, and called Mist to her, she easily pulled herself up onto the horse, and attached the leather straps that kept her legs in place, and then gently guided Mist to the barren dirt track. Tala was one of the main trainers for the farm, and her main strategy was gain the horse's trust, and don't force them into being something that they aren't. More then a few of Free's children had gone to be something other then a race horse, 3 had become working horses, providing mounts for the police, because of their gentle and easygoing nature, not fitting of a race horse, but perfect for a working horse. Even more had gone to been steeple chasers, and show jumpers, because of their excellent jumping skills and agility. Some had even gone back to Sam Carter to be mounts for the children there. And then there were the racers, for a stallion Free had produced more great racehorses then almost any other stallion, and his sons also carried the ability to pass the traits of the father. One speculation on the tracks was that it wasn't the bloodlines but the training; Tala used an innovative training technique, teaching horses to love winning. A horse that loves to win is a horse that will run with heart. Also Tala never beat her horses, because she needed to use both hands to ride, she couldn't hold a crop, but whenever she ran her horses, they always seemed to get better times then when the other jockey's ran them, so she got rid of all the crops, and told the jockey's to urge the horses on with words like she did, and the horses ran better. Because of this they had a hard time keeping jockeys, because they felt as if they were worthless if the horse could win without them involved, and that was the reason Mark Doble was sitting in front of her right then.  
  
"Hey you must be Mark, I'm Tala, nice to meet you" Tala said as she extended her hand. He shook it, and she noticed that he had a nice firm grip, one of the most important things for a jockey. "You think that Wind is warmed up enough?" She asked.  
  
"Yeah, she's pretty good, got a real nice stride. Who are you riding?" He replied.  
  
"This is Freedom's Misty Morning, he's my baby, I've raised him from a colt, and well now he's pretty big!" She answered. "He doesn't need a warm up, he's been out all day. So let's go. We're going to do an easy mile, not too hard, but not to easy either, don't let her go all out. After that we'll do a ¼ mile at top speed, and then a cool down mile. Oh and loose the crop, you don't need it, she'll run if you ask" With that said Tala rode Mist to the starting pole for the mile. Mark followed after her, dropping his crop at the line. "Ready, set, GO!" Tala yelled, and they took off. The horses were neck to neck, until Tala, gently urged Mist to g a little faster. Mist easily took the lead. Tala looked back to see if Mark figured out how to get Wind to go faster without a crop. He hadn't. 'Oh well his problem' she thought. They came to the half-mile pole with Mist still easily leading Wind. Then suddenly Mark came up on her right side, and once again the horses were neck and neck. Tala smiled to herself. 'Looks like we got a winner here' she thought as she slowly eased Mist out of his gallop as they reached the mile pole. Soon both horses were stopped and Tala walked Mist over to Mark and Wind.  
  
"Good race. We're going to skip the rest, because it's getting dark, and we both need to eat. Get Wind cleaned up and in her stall, then meet me in the tack room." She turned and Mark left the track. She then took Mist for a slow gallop around the track. She easily dismounted and led him back to his roomy box stall. There she cleaned him off, and put on his blanket. After she gathered her tack, she wheeled off to the tack room, to find the door open, and light streaming out into the hallway. Inside was Mark who looked up when she entered, and she saw a look of surprise plant itself on his face.  
  
"You.you can't walk." He said in utter amazement.  
  
"Well no, I can't, doesn't mean I can't ride" She said a bit defensively.  
  
"I didn't mean it like that," He said "It's just well."  
  
"Don't worry, you aren't the only one to have this type of reaction, a lot of people think that people who can't walk can't do a lot of things that they really can. So how did you like riding Wind?"  
  
"She's a great horse, has a lot of potential" He said  
  
"Well we better get to dinner, you're invited by the way" she said as she wheeled off towards the house. 


	4. Fateful Ride

Chapter 3: Fateful Ride  
  
Later that night Tala lay awake in bed. It was well past 2:00 in the morning, yet sleep had eluded her the whole night. Her thoughts had kept turning to Jeff, and the fact that she would never see him again. She though she had put on a pretty good show for Mark and her parents that night. Going right back to work, and pretending that everything was alright, when in fact her heart was being torn in two by the loss of her best friend. Silent tears streamed down her face and onto her pillow. All jockeys knew the dangers of racing; it was an occupational hazard to ride a horse at full speed, surrounded by other horses doing the same thing, but the thrill was well worth it. Or so Tala had thought until today. If Jeff hadn't been the rider he was, then Tala would have passed it off as an accident, but because she knew Jeff as well as she did, there was no doubt in her mind that there was no possibility of an accident. She hoped that the guy she had met today could figure out what really happened.  
  
As it turned out, at the time Tala was wide-awake thinking about "the guy" he happened to also be wide-awake thinking about the same thing. Grissom sat at his desk going over the case file on Jeff Robertson, looking for any clue that might lead him to the answer of why the man was murdered. Yes, murdered, the sample had come back as petroleum jelly; someone had made Jeff loose his stirrup. What Grissom didn't know was if they actually wanted him dead or just hurt. Either way, Jeff was now out of the picture, and so the first place he looked for possible suspects were the rivals of his current stable. There were over 20. 'Well we have to start somewhere' he thought to himself.  
  
The next morning Tala got up and was out at the barn by 6:00. When she arrived she found Mark already there. He had his horse tacked and ready to go which surprised Tala, usually she had to explain every little detail of the riding schedule to the newbies, and this was something new.  
  
"I see you deciphered the riding schedule.that's not an easy task," she said as she wheeled up to the stall that he was standing at. "Not too many people can do that. Just let me get my horse, and we'll begin."  
  
She went over to the stall closest to the barn doors, and called Another Victory, a beautiful Bay yearling, who came with no hesitation. She led her down the isle to the cross ties, where she left her to go get her tack. When she returned she saw that Mark was already warming up his horse, a gleaming black bay named Melody of the Sky. Tala rode her horse out to meet him.  
  
"Ok let's do just about what we did yesterday evening, start with a medium paced gallop at a mile to warm them up," She said as she turned her horse to the mile pole. Mark once again followed her. They lined their horses up, and when Tala gave the signal they took off with a jump. Rounding the first bend it seemed that it was going to be a repeat of yesterday, when Mark urged his horse on, in front of Tala. Tala was about to get Victory to catch up when Marks horse stumbled, caught himself and flipped out. First he threw a buck, then her reared. Suddenly he went down and Mark tried to jump free, but was caught beneath the thrashing horse. Legs flailed wildly and Tala saw that Mark was being kicked to death by the horse's rock hard hooves.  
  
"SKY! SKY! STOP IT!" Tala yelled in vain to the horse still struggling on the ground. Then as suddenly as the attack had started Sky was completely still, he let out a shuddering breath, then lay still. "Mark, Mark? Are you ok? Mark?" Tala called over and over to the rider still trapped beneath the heaving horse.  
  
"Hold on I'll be right back!" She turned Victory towards the barn, and hurriedly dismounted, and latched her own horse to the crossties. She wheeled frantically towards the prone form of the horse. When she reached his side, she pulled her cell phone out of her pouch on her chair, and dialed 911.  
  
When the paramedics arrived on the scene, Tala was reasonably sure that Mark, as well as Sky, was dead. They confirmed her fears, and then the questions began. What happened? How well do you know him? Was there any reason for the horse's behavior? Has the horse ever done this before? Tala felt as if she was being interrogated. Then he showed up, the man from the racetracks the other day. Gil Grissom, she though she remembered his name being. He walked up to Tala.  
  
"Is there some place we can talk?" He asked  
  
"Uh, um, yeah the Tack room, in the barn," She replied.  
  
"Good, let's go there" He said 


	5. Formalities of a Tragedy

Chapter 4: Formalities of a Tragedy  
  
Tala once again found herself sitting across from the man who proved to be quite a mystery for her. He seemed to be hiding something, but she couldn't quite figure it out. He didn't look at her with pity, or fear, which were both common responses to her disability, and yet it felt as if he was hiding something from her. He seemed to understand that she was a peace with herself, and respects that, and that quality was really hard to find in people these days. She had wanted to do a bit of research on him after their first encounter, but it seemed that that would have to wait until later.  
  
"Well I can't really say it's good to see you again Mr. Grissom, because of the circumstances, but thank you for coming" Tala said, breaking the silence that was quickly becoming uncomfortable.  
  
"I'm sorry about your friend, but I do have some questions." He replied  
  
"He wasn't my friend, he was just hired yesterday." She replied a bit indignantly.  
  
"You mean that he hasn't been working her for a long time? Who would have been riding that horse if he wasn't?" Grissom asked suddenly interested. " Well I guess it would have been me, if we hadn't hired anyone.why?" she asked a bit confused.  
  
"I was thinking that if he was just hired yesterday, no one would have had time to plan this little "accident" and that maybe the target wasn't Mark, but the person who was supposed to ride the horse toady." He replied  
  
" You mean me? Why would anyone want to hurt me?" Tala asked, already knowing a bit of the answer.  
  
"I think you have a pretty good idea. That gives me a bit more to look into, but I will go join my team now if you have nothing else to add that may help" He said.  
  
"No I don't know anything, but if you do have any questions, you can always ask," she said as she opened the door and proceeded Grissom out of the small tack room.  
  
Once they were one again in the large hallway of the huge barn, Grissom took in deep breaths of fresh air. Tala may not have noticed the smell of leather, oils, and sweat, but Grissom's senses had been overwhelmed by the pungent smells of the windowless room. He went out to the track to check on his team.  
  
While Grissom was talking with Tala, Catherine and Warrick were processing the dead body. The cause of death was much like that of Jeff Robertson, a severely fractured skull, but otherwise had no sever injuries. He had a broken arm, possibly a fractured rib or two, but other then that he was in pretty good condition.  
  
"Remind me not to get on the bad side of a horse any time soon," Warrick quipped.  
  
"Don't worry, you aren't the only one who's a little wary of horses right now.big teeth and big feet, not my favorite kind of animal anyways." Catherine replied  
  
"Well better get to work.Gris is going to get done and then come after us for being lazy." Warrick said. After that the rest of the examination of the body was done in silence.  
  
Catherine went to the boots to look for any residue, remembering what Sara had found the last time. Warrick started at the head, looking for any way that the helmet could have slipped off so easily. He walked over to the helmet, and picked it up. He looked at the strap, which was noticeably frayed at one particular area, and that area alone. "Damn" Warrick muttered under his breath. Meanwhile Catherine was looking at the boots still, something just didn't seem right. She reached her hand back to the heel of the book, and quickly yanked it back again, crimson blood starting to seep out of multiple gashes in her hand.  
  
"Warrick I think you had better get over here!" She yelled holding her hand and backing away as to not contaminate the scene.  
  
"Catherine, what happened to your hand?" Warrick asked as he approached her.  
  
"Check the bottom of that boot, there's something really sharp there." She said.  
  
Warrick went over to the body, and bent down to look at he heel of the boot. At closer inspection there were minute traces of glass imbedded in the heels of the boots.  
  
"Looks like we have another murder on our hands. Did you send the horse back to headquarters, I want ot have a look at it." He said.  
  
"Yeah along with a blood and tissue sample, want to make sure the horse wasn't drugged." She said.  
  
"You think it was?" Warrick asked a little confused "How could you know that?"  
  
"Just a guess, but also why would the horse die, nothing was wrong with it, there was no other evidence that could lead to it's death, it's spine was intact, and there was no bleeding, what else could it have been?" She said while bandaging up her hand. "I'd better quit here , I don't want to contaminate the scene."  
  
Just then Grissom walked out of the barn followed closely by the girl that was at the tracks yesterday. "So guys what do we have?" 


	6. Order among Chaos

Chapter 5: Order among Chaos  
  
After the CSIs had left Tala went to Mist's stall. She gently reached up and rubbed the velvety muzzle that had been lowered to greet her. Mist was and always would be her favorite horse. On her 14th birthday Tala's parents had given her the permission to breed any two horses she wanted, and the foal would be hers. Tala had picked Free and another mare Out of the Mist who also sported awesome bloodlines, and was well proven on the track, but even more so in passing down good traits of herself and the sire to her offspring. When Tala began training Mist she knew right away that Mist was a racehorse, he was aggressive, and fast, but he had a willingness to run that she had never seen in any other horse. Now as she sat in front of him, his gentle side showed through. He lowered his muzzle and gently rubbed her with his large friendly nose.  
  
"Oh Mist what am I supposed to do? I'm so lost. Two people have died, and it seems that it's all my fault. They lost their lives so that someone could get to me. I don't know who it could be, and that's what scares me. I already lost one horse; I don't think I can bear to loose another. You guys are my life. I don't know how I could live without any of you." Tala spoke in a hushed voice to her gentle companion. Although Mist couldn't understand what she was saying, he seemed to know what she was feeling, and nickered softly as if to comfort her. "Mind if I join you?" She asked. Tala then opened the door to the stall and wheeled in, fighting hard against the bedding of the stall. Mist then lay down and Tala lifted herself onto the ground next to him. Taking comfort in the warmth radiating off the horse, she curled up and soon fell asleep. She awoke to the sound of a gunshot.  
  
Tala tried to untangle her legs and get herself into her chair, but it seemed that it was taking forever. When she finally got herself out of the stall she quickly wheeled in the direction she had heard the shot come from. Then she saw a prone form at the end of the long hallway. She quickened her pace. When she was close enough to make out the person she gasped, and almost fell out of her chair.  
  
"DAD!!!" She yelled her heart, pounding a hundred miles per hour, seemed as if it was going to burst from her chest. When she saw him move a little bit, she let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. "Dad? Hold on dad I'm going to call an ambulance." She quickly pulled out her cell phone and for the second time that day called 911.  
  
At CSI headquarters, Grissom was sitting at his desk surrounded by his ordered chaos he called his office, reading intently, that he didn't notice Sara walk in.  
  
"Grissom?" She said. When he didn't look up she said it a little louder figuring that he was deep in thought. "Gris?" He looked up quickly with a look of surprise.  
  
"Oh, Sara, you startled me, I didn't hear you come in," He said a bit sheepishly, but under that innocent look was there a trace of fear? The look passed as quickly as it had come and Sara shook it off as her imagination.  
  
"Yeah well I was just checking in to see if you need me to do anything before I life." She replied with a look that was begging for work.  
  
"Sorry Sara, all I'm doing is making up a list of possible suspects for the double murder, I think I can handle it, go home and get some rest, and then come in early tonight, I will have something for you to do then." He answered  
  
"Alright! I'll be here," She turned and left, and Grissom let out a sigh of relief. It was getting harder and harder to hide his problem, but he was determined not to tell anyone until it was absolutely necessary. His mind inadvertently turned to Tala Cale, a smart, funny, happy person who also happened to have a sever disability. 'Why am I so afraid of this?' he asked himself. 'It's not because I'm afraid of loosing my job; I know that I will keep it; I know I can get by. I know how to sign; all that I would have to do is learn how read lips, and that's not terribly hard.' He shook his head 'Stop fooling yourself Gil Grissom, you're scared.' He looked down at his list once more, and remembered something that he had told the principal of the deaf school, "You don't need to hear or speak to communicate... or commit murder." "Well I guess that applies to walking too. You don't need to be able to walk to ride a horse.or commit murder" He said out loud, if only to hear his own voice. 


	7. Possibilities of Jeopardy

Chapter 6: Possibilities of Jeopardy  
  
Tala sat in front of her computer, staring intently at the page filled with information on the illusive CSI named Gil Grissom.  
  
Name: Gil Grissom  
  
CSI Level: Three  
  
Height: 5'10"  
  
Weight: 168 lbs  
  
Place of Birth: Santa Monica, CA  
  
Date of Birth: 8/17/56  
  
Education: BS in Biology, UCLA  
  
Special Skills: Entomology  
  
Marital Status: Single  
  
"Damn could they give me any less?" Tala asked frustrated with the menial amount of information her 4-hour search had yielded. Nothing had helped her figure out what the man was hiding from her, and nothing on who he actually was. "Oh well guess I'll just have to find out first hand." She sighed. Backing away from her desk, she glanced at the clock, 4:30, if she left now she would arrive at the hospital in time for visitation with her dad. As it turned out, the bullet had passed straight through her father's left shoulder, well above his heart. This told Tala one of two things, one who ever shot him was an amateur, or two they were just trying to scare her, not kill anyone. From previous experience she thought the former more likely.  
  
Just as she was about to leave the room she glanced up at the post-it note on her wall, on it was the number Mr. Grissom had given her to reach him if anything came up. After her father had been shot, and the paramedics had come and rushed him to the hospital, Tala had followed, and then found herself waiting for 3 hours while he was in surgery. Only now did she remember the small piece of blue paper sticking to her wall.  
  
"Shit, better do it now, or I'll forget again." She quickly wheeled over to her desk, picked up the phone, and dialed the unfamiliar number. Her call was answered with a curt "Grissom"  
  
"Hello Mr. Grissom, this is Tala Cale, you told me to call you if something came up," She said, only slightly nervous, if she thought he sounded authoritative in person, over the phone he was even more formidable.  
  
"Tala, I was just on my way over to see you, there are a few things I need to talk to you about." He replied, and Tala caught a note of uncertainty in his voice.  
  
"Well can it wait, see, the reason I called was because my dad was shot, and well I was on my way to see him, but you told me to call you if anything else came up, so I did, oh and also the person doing all this is an amateur, or just really stupid, and I'm betting on the amateur." Tala said  
  
"How did you figure that out?" Grissom asked his curiosity piqued.  
  
"Well see the person who shot my dad, either didn't have a clue about human anatomy, or was not used to shooting a gun." Tala answered, glancing again at the clock, which now read 4:55 "Ummm.Mr. Grissom, I have to go if I want to see my dad, can we pick this up later?" Tala asked.  
  
"Sure, I will be over later this evening." He replied.  
  
"Ok, I'll see you then" She answered, and then hung up.  
  
Grissom sat at his desk, still processing the conversation he had just had with Tala Cale. The information that she had reveled had not completely eliminated her as a suspect, but almost. The fact that she also saw that the killer was an amateur was curious, but she also seemed close to her father and shooting him was something he couldn't see her doing. He was confused by her, she seemed smart, but it seemed to him that she was wasting her life being a jockey, and letting her intelligence go to waste. With a little training, she would make a great CSI. The thought trailed off 'Whoa, where did that thought come from, now I'm turning possible suspects into CSIs. Great, just great.' His thoughts were interrupted when Sara entered the room, luckily this time he heard her 'Small miracles are always welcome' he though to himself. Out loud he asked "Can I help you Sara?"  
  
"Yeah, go to tox screen back off that horse, he was off the charts in valium, a sedative, I'm surprised he could even move." She replied  
  
"Valium is a sedative, but when given in extreme amounts, it causes the opposite response, in horses it makes them go crazy, and turns them extremely mean, that might explain why the horse flipped out when Mark asked him to go faster." Grissom answered  
  
"And why do you know this?" Sara asked.  
  
"It's my business to know everything," He quipped. "So is that what killed the horse?" He asked after a moment.  
  
"Yeah, there was so much in his system that it overloaded his heart when he freaked out, horrible way to go," She said  
  
"Don't get all mushy on me Sara, oh did you run a tox screen on the DB?" He asked  
  
"No, didn't see the need to, why you think he was on something?" She questioned  
  
"Not positive, but just curious. I'm heading back over to the farm tonight want to come?" He asked  
  
"Gris we just pulled a double, are you going for the record of consecutive hours in the lab?" She remarked  
  
"This one has got me stumped," he remarked with a bit of hesitation.  
  
"Oh, I see, you can never have an unsolved case is that it?" She said  
  
"Not while there is a killer on the loose and a person in danger." He replied 


	8. The Wrath of Nature

Chapter 7: The Wrath of Nature  
  
As Tala wheeled into the sterile while room, she unwillingly flashed back to her own stay in the hallowed halls of health, otherwise know as hell on earth. Her face fell as she saw her father laying there obviously in a lot of pain.  
  
" Hey dad," she whispered. He gave her a brief smile, but even that small action seemed to be too painful for him, and the smile was short lived.  
  
"Hey sweetie," he rasped  
  
"Just came to see how you were doing," she said "I'm really sorry." Her words were cut short by her father's raised hand.  
  
"It's not your fault there is noting you could have done." He replied  
  
"I'm still sorry," She looked down at her feet, "I called Mr. Grissom, he's coming out to the ranch later to talk, or whatever."  
  
"Ok just make sure the horses get fed and watered," he answered.  
  
"Dad, you don't have to remind me! Where's mom anyways?" She asked noticing for the first time that her mother's presence was absent from the room.  
  
"She went to go get some coffee at the shop down the street, she said she'd be home by 7:00," he answered, obviously fighting sleep, Tala noticed this, and decided to cut the meeting short.  
  
"Well I'll let you get some rest, tell mom I'll handle dinner. I'll be back tomorrow after I get my chores done." She gave him a small smile, and turned to leave.  
  
As Tala wheeled out into the parking lot a few drops of rain fell onto the pavement around her. 'Looks like a nasty storm's coming' she thought to herself. She hauled herself into her car and drove home. During the 20-minute drive to her house, the storm picked up, and by the time she pulled into the driveway the rain was coming down in sheets. Tala hurriedly got out of the car and was half way to the house when she noticed the barn door swinging in the wind. 'It's not supposed to do that she though, aw damn I'd better go check it out' she thought. She quickly made her way through the driving rain to the musty dryness of the barn. When she flicked the switch she noticed something was amiss right away. 4 stalls were open, and another 6 empty. "What the.." She went over to the other door leading out to the paddocks, and saw something that made her heart stop. One gate was open and swinging back in forth as the wind whipped around it. "No.." It was barely a whisper, but her word echoes through the quiet barn."Free, no, no, not Free," Suddenly without a second though she wheeled frantically to the tack room, throwing her tack onto her lap, she wheeled to Mist's stall.  
  
"Mist I need you now, boy I need you, we have to go find the horses that got out, ok boy," her words were slow calm as she tried to calm herself as much as the horse. Tacking up Mist in record time, she pulled herself up into the saddle and walked Mist out of the barn. The rain was coming down even harder now, and it she was fighting just to see.  
  
"Let's go boy," She whispered to her horse and took off at a gallop across the muddy ground. The rain beat at her face and stung her eyes, but she kept them trained down on the soggy ground, watching the hoof prints flash by. She rode for what seem like forever, occasionally seeing a hoof print that told her she was going in the right direction. The air around her was growing cold, and soon her fingers were so cold she couldn't feel them, and she started to worry about holding on, when the leather reins started to slip from her fingers. There were no more hoof prints telling her she was going in the right direction, and she was praying that she was still on the right track. The up ahead she saw a small grove of withered trees, who had stood the test of time, and conditions and had survived in the arid desert. Underneath the small twisted limbs stood Free and all the other horses that had gotten out. Free seemed to be keeping them all in one place. "Good boy Free, good boy" She told him as she pulled Mist to a stop under the small trees. "Free come, come on Free, time to go home," She said as she turned Mist and started home, the other horses following easily. When they reached a flat stretch of land, Tala urged Mist into a canter and they slowly made their way home.  
  
Back in the barn, after all the horses, had been put in their stalls, Tala looked around wearily, and slowly made her way back to the house. Once inside the door, she had just taken off her shoes when she passed out on the floor. 


	9. Silent Confessions

Chapter 8: Silent Confessions  
  
Tala slowly drifted back into consciousness to a pounding in her head. Slowly she pushed herself into a sitting position and realized that the pounding was not in her head, but rather at the door. Outside she heard voices, "Tala? Miss Cale? Are you in there?" She recognized the voices as Gil Grissom and one of his CSIs; she tried to dredge the name out of her weary brain, but came up short.  
  
"I'm here," Tala rasped, "You can come in." After that she leaned against the footrest of her chair, still to tired to haul herself into it. Grissom and Sara opened the door to find Tala slouched on the floor.  
  
"Tala, what happened?" Grissom asked concern etched into his face.  
  
"Someone let the horses out, I had to go find them, and got caught in the storm." She replied wearily.  
  
"Maybe we had better get you to the hospital" Sara said, worrying about the frail looking girl in front of her.  
  
" NO! I'm fine; I just have to get some dry clothes on. You 2 wait here I'll be right back." With that she turned and wheeled off into the other end of the house.  
  
Grissom took this opportunity to explore the house, he wanted to find even a little clue that might lead him to the criminal that has until thus eluded him, not a common thing for the expert crime scene investigator. He looked at the pictures lining the mantle, when he noticed a person he hadn't seen before, or had he? The man before him was Matt Shadore, but he was wearing the FF Ranch's colors, not the colors of Race the Wind, his own stables. From the looks of Tala this picture was a few years ago, but Grissom never forgot a face. Just then Tala re-entered the room, Sara was on the couch where she had been when Tala had left, but Grissom had gotten up and was wandering the room, looking like a mare that had lost her foal.  
  
"Are you about done there Mr. Grissom?" She asked with just a hint of sarcasm.  
  
Grissom looked up a small sheepish smile upon his face. He held up a small picture from off the mantle, "Tala, is this Matt Shadore?" He asked, something had obviously piqued his interest.  
  
"Yeah it is, why?" Tala asked still wondering what had caused his interest in an old photo.  
  
"Did he used to work for your farm?" Grissom questioned, mentally crossing his fingers, at least if his hunch was correct he would finally have a lead.  
  
"Yeah, but only for a short while, but he was a family friend long before that, after we bought the ranch, he saw how much he wanted one of his own, so now we are sort of rivals. What does this have to do with anything though? Matt couldn't have done it, he was talking to me while Mark was getting ready for the race. Believe me the way he was acting after he lost that race, I suspected him at fires, but he didn't have any opportunity to mess with Mark's stuff" She said, but even as she said it, she knew what Grissom was going to say so she cut him off, "I know, I know, it still could be him, but I guess I don't want to believe it."  
  
Tala looked up and saw a look of intense concentration on Grissom's face. " Mr. Grissom are you alright?" Tala asked.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine, ok Sara, I want you to go look around the barn, see if our intruder left anything for us, I'll stay here to talk to Tala." Grissom said.  
  
"Ok," Sara said feeling strangely out of place with these two people, and not really knowing why. She picked up her raincoat and headed out the door.  
  
"Seriously Mr. Grissom what's wrong, I know you are hiding something, I noticed it the first time we talked, see I pick up on things, when people talk to me I know when they feel sorry for me, and when they are scared, but you, you were just hiding something, and maybe I scared you into doing that, but I do know you are hiding something, and it helps to tell someone, believe me I know." She looked at him, and for the first time she saw fear.  
  
"I'm not comfortable talking about it," he said quickly." And I'm not here to talk about myself, we have a killer on the loose, and I'm going to find them, that I promise you."  
  
Tala looked at him, and gave a small smile, "Don't worry tell me whenever you are ready, but you are right, we need to find this guy, and before anybody, horse or person, gets hurt. Matt Shadore lives exactly 3 miles to the north of here, his ranch is hard to miss, all that bright shiny white plastic, I can't stand that stuff, but that's not the point. He won't welcome you without a warrant, he prides his privacy, he won't even let prospective buyers in the barn, he's kind of a strange guy. Good luck with that, and if you need anything, even just to talk, I'm pretty good at that."  
  
Just then Sara came back into the house, "Grissom, our guy left some boot prints in the mud, but if we don't work fast we're going to loose them, also I got a few partials, but they are probably just Tala's but this is the first break we've had." A dripping wet Sara Sidle reported.  
  
"Well then let's go." Grissom replied 


	10. Questions for Some Answers

Questions for Some Answers  
  
After Grissom and Sarah had collected the meager amounts of evidence, they decided to head back to the CSI headquarters and start looking at all the pieces of the puzzle. Looking for any clue that might lead them to a suspect. After a long and silent car rider in which both Grissom and Sarah were both wondering what was going through the mind of the other, Sarah wondering what was wrong with Grissom and Grissom wondering if Sarah knew what was wrong with him, they arrived back at the lab. In the briefing room Grissom laid out all the information that they had. 2 murder victims, first Jeff Robertson 31 year old male, 5'1", 101 pounds, jockey at the Las Vegas Race Tracks. Killed from a skull fracture and multiple internal injuries. The second Mark Doble, 19 year old male, 4'11", 98 pounds, jockey and exercise rider for Freedom Flies Racing Stable, cause of death multiple internal injuries, and repeated blows to the head by a blunt object (hoof). One attempted murder victim, Ryan Cale, 51-year-old male, 5'10", 167 pounds, owner of Freedom Flies Racing Stable, injuries caused by a single gunshot wound to upper left shoulder. Murder "Weapons":  
Petroleum jelly on boot of jockey  
Drugged horse and glass shards in boots  
Gun (in attempted murder) All this information was spread out over the lighted table and all five CSIs were hunched over it desperately seeking something, anything. Suddenly Grissom stood up, with that "I've figured something out" look on his face. "What is it Gris? Catherine asked, eager to hear some good news.  
"We're looking for two different people" Grissom replied.  
"OK not the news I was hoping for, but why do you think that?" came Catherine's reply.  
"The first murder, look at what happened, guy falls off horse in the middle of a race. Could have been an accident; also murder could not have been the objective. The horse was not hurt at all. Second murder, could in no way have been an accident. It also was directly intended to kill the horse, even if the rider was not killed. The attempted murder, crime of opportunity, or so it seems, perhaps it was intended for a horse to be shot, but Ryan Cale showed up and was shot instead. Thus making it a crime of necessity for the killer. Then al the horses were let out, and one in particular, Freedom's Song, Tala Cale's first horse. This also means that the killer has a good knowledge of Tala. Do you see where I'm going with this?" He asked.  
"First murder was committed by someone who wanted Jeff out of the way, the rest were deliberate attacks on Tala Cale." Nick replied.  
"Right Nick, because Tala cares more about horses he she does people. Ok, Warrick, I want you to run through all the races in the past few days since the first murder look for owners who had the most to loose if Jeff raced. Especially Matt Shadore, oh and check the race that Jeff was in see if Matt had a horse in that as well. I still don't trust him. Catherine and Nick I want you to go through all the records of Freedom Flies Stable and find all the employees that were fired or left unhappily. There's something there we just have to find it. Sarah you're with me, we're gonna go back and talk to Tala again. There are a few questions that need answers that only she can provide." Grissom said.  
"Uh, Gris there is still a pretty bad storm going on out there, maybe we had better wait until it's over before we go see Tala again." Sarah said  
"Oh right. I'll be in my office if any of you need me before then." Grissom replied. 'I'm gonna get these guys" He muttered as he headed to his office.  
Three hours later the storm had calmed down and Grissom and Sarah were getting ready to head back out to Freedom Flies Racing Stable when Nick came sliding into Grissom's office.  
"I've got something, I think,' he gasped, out of breath after running the whole way there. "I have two people who were let go by Tala's farm that could hold a pretty nasty grudge. First guy Derrick Temore, was fired because of his mistreatment of the horses, the other Adam Prescott was let go because of a history of mental illness that was not revealed at the time he was hired, and for his subsequent mistreatment of horses. Those are the only two, all the rest went somewhere else by choice, and because of Tala's training style."  
"Good work Nick, Sarah and I were about to go see Tala, go help Warrick if he isn't done then," Grissom replied.  
Sarah and Grissom finished packing up the Tahoe and once again headed to Freedom Flies Racing Stable. They pulled into the now familiar lane and headed to the door of the huge farmhouse. Grissom knocked on the door and it was only moments before it was opened for them.  
"I was wondering when you would be back, come on in" Tala said, not at all surprised to see them.  
They all walked into the large living room. Grissom too a quick look around and noticed that nothing had changed. 'Of course it didn't change, you were just here a few hours ago' he berated himself.  
Sarah spoke up "Tala we have come to realize that we are looking for two different people. Jeff and Mark were killed but very different character types."  
"So what you're telling me is that there's some kind of conspiracy against me?" Tala asked with a hint of disdain.  
"No, we think that the second killer used the death of Jeff as a cover up for himself.' Grissom replied, " We have two suspects and we need to know what you know about them."  
"OK I'll tell you everything that I know.' She said.  
"The first is Derrick Temore, what can you tell me about him?" Grissom asked.  
"He's a major asshole, but he's also really stupid. From what I've seen this killer has some brains, and that does not in any way describe Derrick, he doesn't have two brain cells to rub together.' She replied.  
"OK the second is Adam Prescott" Gil said.  
"Who? We never had an Adam Prescott here. At least not that I know of.' Tala replied.  
"Wee our records show he worked here, and was let go because of an undisclosed mental illness." Grissom answered.  
" We let a Paul Romster go because of a mental illness, but not an Adam." she said "Wait, if a person gets a name change does their record stay the same?"  
"Yes, Why?" Sarah asked  
"Because if you get fired from a job, and sent to a mental hospital, you don't want to have that name when you go back into the same line of work. Paul was good with horses, but he was skitso and he got rough with the horses when he had an episode." Tala answered.  
"You're right, Sarah call Cath and have her run a check on a Paul Romster, see if he changed his name to Adam at any time." Grissom said. Sarah went off to do as she was told.  
"If you're right about this, I'm pretty sure that Adam/Paul whoever he is, is our man. He definitely would have a vendetta against your' Grissom continued.  
"What about Jeff, that's what started this whole thing?" Tala questioned  
"I've got a feeling that it was Matt Shadore, don't ask me why, but you said that he had just lost a race to you and was really mad about it, he could have been ensuring that he won the race that Jeff was in and it was only coincidence that Jeff was your friend, or it could have been that he was trying to scare you into not riding any more." Grissom answered.  
"I know how to get him to talk. All you have to do is tell him he'll get off easier if he does, or threaten him with both murders, Matt's a wuss, he'll squeal." Tala said with a hint of a smile.  
"Well thank you for that advice. Brass has already got a warrant for Matt's stuff, we should find something there," Grissom replied.  
"Good luck Mr. Grissom" Tala said as he left the house. 


	11. Simple Solutions to a Complex Problem

Chapter 10: Simple Resolutions to a Complex Problem  
  
Three weeks passed, and what couldn't be done in the whole time before that was done in a matter of days. The killers were caught, and both were sentenced to life in prison, one at the local jail, and the other to a mental hospital. Only 48 hours after being admitted, Adam Prescott was dead, suicide they said, but it would never be proven. He was found hanging from the ceiling after dinner by his roommate. Matt Shadore was not so lucky.  
Tala Cale continued her racing career, and was later admitted to the hall of fame, but that wasn't for many years. She was the youngest person ever accepted, as well as the only person ever with a physical disability to be accepted. Her training techniques are now nationwide and have changed the art of horseracing.  
Gil Grissom never saw Tala again after they had solved this particular mystery, and eventually had surgery to correct his impending deafness, which had remained a secret until the end. Simple solutions to complex problems? In the end two men were dead, anther injured. Two people locked away for the remainder of their lives, and another affected for life. Simple in its own right, yet so complex to the ones who lived it. Like Grissom said, no horsing around when people's lives are involved. 


End file.
